Arcana-Shiver

PERFUME: Shiver Perfume Oil

COMPANY: Arcana

AVAILABILITY: Valentine’s 2011 part of The "Shiver Ensemble" series

The "Shiver Ensemble" is a series of four perfumes that play on the mystery and magic of words, evoking the movement from winter into spring as the cold and darkness falls away to reveal new life. And as a symbol of that life - honey, a note all of these perfumes share.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: An armful of pale flowers: tuberose, royal jasmine, jasmine sambac, white osmanthus, gardenia, muguet, and narcissus; honey, chilled peppermint, and smoky frankincense.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: From the decant I get a lot of peppermint which I love especially in spring!

WET ON SKIN: Sweet honey, peppermint and pale flowers.

DRY DOWN: The flower notes are so well blended that it’s difficult to take them apart. I get gardenia and muguet the most. The peppermint note stays quite a while. The frankincense it’s lovely here. Light and smoky pairs very well with the honey note. 

FINAL THOUGHTS: I really like this but I wont need any more than my decant. All in all, it’s very easy to wear. It would be perfect for a hot summer night like the ones we have here in Greece!

Haus of Gloi!

My Haus of Gloi stash!

Hi guys! I had the flu all the past week and that’s why I haven’t made any reviews:(

 My sense of smell was so weak the past few days… I missed all my scented stuff!

I am much better now so I thought to continue my collection series with a HoG post!

My trio of comfort: Sweet potato treat Pumpkin butter, Hearth sugar exfoliant and Parkin perfume.

When I am feeling a little sad or I am stressed out foodie scents is what I reach of the most of the times. These scents go so well together that I am using them regularly that way.

Hearth sugar exfoliant: As you can see I am almost out! This is the 7.5oz pot and I have it for a year I think. I love the consistency of this scrub. It’s not harsh to the skin. This one has cranberry seeds too. I love the touch of color that these ones give! It leaves you moisturized but not oily. I could say that it almost washes away clean. The scent, not only feels the bathroom but it stays on my skin. Sometimes I can notice it even after I put my body cream on.

The warm glowing center of any home. Autumns last apple pickings, warm bread, orange rind, various fire roasted nuts, cracked black pepper all nailed down by an oozing sticky benzoin.

The skin of the red apples combined by the warm bread is the first thing I smell. In use the orange rind and the black pepper become more obvious. It’s a warm scent. Perfect for when it’s cold outside.  Very similar to Guy Fawkes by Paintbox Soapworks.

Sweet potato treat Pumpkin butter: I love this formula! It sinks to the skin immediately and it leaves me feeling so soft at the same time. Using this product you don’t even need to put perfume on! It’s so strong and it stays for hours! Also, a little goes a long wayJ

For me, this is the epitome of holiday comfort food: Sweet potatoes with mild spices, butter and brown sugar baked off with marshmallows.

It smells exactly like it’s advertised. Sugar, marshmallows and Sweet potato with mild spices. Yum

Parkin Perfume: Glorious ginger cakes celebrating Guy Fawkes Day! Brown sugar, black treacle, oats, a peculiar blend of white spices tossed with chopped roasted chestnuts and coated with the lightest of icings.

I am curious what the white spices might be. White pepper? Anyway, I love this and I wear it regularly. I have it for two years and still smells perfectly good. This and Gingerbread Whorehouse from Possets are my favourite ginger perfumes.  On dry down I get sugary oats and I really like that note. Stays for hours on me which is always a plus!

These three perfumes compliments each other so good and they are making me smell eatable!

Narcosa: A thick haze of tonka and black vanilla, three jasmines, tuberose and ylang ylang.

I started with the small body butter but I couldn’t resist buying the perfume as well. I love this one so much that I might buy another one when it becomes available again!

Heavy on the ylang ylang, it’s one of the best white flower- vanilla interpretations that I have in my collection. Sweet and feminine to the Max!

Come Hither: Based off of traditional herbs and roots used in Hoodoo to draw and attract a lover, or entice the one you've already ensnared! Bourbon vanilla, tonka bean, a touch of rose oil, Queen Elizabeth root, three threads of saffron and a bit of honey to sweeten the whole deal.

This is on my bottle wish list for over a year. It smells like sugared rose petals in a whipped cream bed drizzled with a teaspoon of honey.

The  pumpkin butter is great for layering with other rose blends in my collection.

Milk Maid: Flushed, but demure. Fresh milk, clean linens, pale musk and pink sweet pea blossom.

Yet another pumpkin butter. Now you know, I have a thing with body creams! This one doesn’t smell milky to my nose but musky with a hint of floral. The pea blossom is so beautiful! It reminds me a little bit of peony too. This is so easy to wear and to layer with other scents that I am almost out! Really nice scent.

Odette: sun dried linens, tuberose, ginger lily and white musk.

I don’t get a lot of flowers from this. Linen and white musk are the notes that my nose pick out the most. I like it though and I could buy it again in a bath and body product but not in perfume.

Lassi: Cool, fresh mango cream, Tunisian orange blossom absolute, black ginger to ground, splash of green tea and a soft squeeze of lime juice.

I haven’t used this one yet but on cold sniff I get lime and mango cream the most. Can’t wait to start using this one this summer!!!

Mango Sticky Rice: Sweet mango, coconut infused rice and toasted sesame.

I don’t buy or like fruity scents very often but this one is an exception. I haven’t smelt anything like it before! I got mango, sesame and a green note that reminds me of coriander but it can’t be that. The coconut gives creaminess to the whole. Perfect for warmer weather!

Ghost Puffs: This is almost a marshmallow single note. Simple and easy to wear. It doesn’t stay hours on me and it has low sillage but I love it anyway.

Ceremony: Dusty beeswax candles, frankincense, myrrh, mastic, spikenard, pale honey, a pinch of tobacco and faded musk.

This is easily on my top 10 perfumes. I love it so much and I can’t understand why HoG didn’t bring this one back. I will guess that the ingredients were too expensive to remake it. Mastic is one of my favourite smells in the world but I don’t see it to be used in perfumes that often. It’s one of the most expensive resins in the world. Here in Greece we use it to scent our pastries and it’s delicious. I am so happy that I didn’t wait and I bought a bottle right away.

It’s a resinous blend that stays hours to the skin.  It’s warm from the beeswax and a little bit powdery from the frankincense. I don’t get tobacco or honey. In fact, I breathe deep every time I wear it to enjoy the mastic and the resins.

I hope I will see similar scents from HoG in the future!

Do you have a favourite scent or product from HoG?

My Twyla order and Perfume reviews

When I read Dee’s and Su’s reviews on Twyla I was really excited to try her perfumes. I was intrigued by her floral blends and the fact that she uses only natural ingredients, made me wanting to buy some samples even more.

I ordered: 9 samples + one free because was my first order. She also sent me another on as a surprise.

I used the code from Dee’s blog as well! So, it was a very good deal.

The shipping was almost 12usd but when I got my package I noticed that the actual price was less than that. I emailed Twyla and she sent me 6usd back immediately! That’s what I call costumer service!

So, the international shipping was only 6usd for 11 samples.

I bought All of her chocolate inspired blends! I couldn’t resist guys. I love chocolate scents and especially the chocolate+floral combo!

Chocolate Roses:  Rose otto, milk chocolate, tarragon and mint

From the imp I am getting chocolate and mint. No roses!! It disappears on my skin whatever I do… I put all the sample in one go and still nothing…. Colour me disappointed

Strawberries and Chocolate: Dark chocolate, vanilla and green cognac

This is super Yummy from the imp! It smells exactly like a chocolate that we have in Greece which is with cream and strawberry mouse!

If this was stronger and it lasted longer on my skin maybe I would buy a bottle.

Rasberries and chocolate: Dark ckocolate, vanilla and roibos

This is very similar to Strawberries and Chocolate maybe a little bit more tart. I can smell the tannins from the roibos tea it’s very nice and gives an earthy note to the blend but again it doesn’t stay on me!

White chocolate and apricots with vanilla and coconut

Starts a little bit weird with that alcoholic grapey apricot note but I really like the dry down. Again not very strong but it lasts maybe an hour on me.

Chocolate Violets: Dark ckocolate, vanilla, violet, tiare

From all the chocolate blends I was looking forward to try this on the most! I think this one is my favourite from all the Twyla chocolate scents. The chocolate note isn’t pronounced is a candied violets scent. The tiare gives an exotic tone to the whole. I guess this is how face powders of the past would smelt like1

All in all, I liked her chocolate scents but they were very weak on me. I won’t buy anything in full size but I was happy to try them.

Twyla uses a cocoa absolute to her perfume but I notice that it doesn’t resolve in the scent No matter how hard I tried. This has never happened to me before. Usually I roll the bottle, The cocoa absolute and the other ingredients mingle together and then I apply my perfume. I don’t know why this is happening here.

GENERAL CATALOGUE SCENTS

Bone Flower

Bone Flower, another name for the lovely tuberose; Tropical flowers on a grave - mysterious, cool, ethereal and beautiful. The complex tuberose blended with the musky scent of loamy, tropical soil and unearthed bones.Tuberose Absolute, Balsam of Peru, Maile leaf (used in Hawai'ian funereal services), Styrax, soft Musk & Sandalwood Absolute.

Tuberose is one of my favourite notes. When I saw that Twyla had a scent named after my favourite flower I almost bought a bottle unsniffed.

This is so light, no wonder why Su couldn’t smell this one at all…

If I try really hard I get a very beautiful scent but that is just for a moment… Bummer.

Honekakala

The Hawai'ian word for "honeysuckle".
This was inspired by the lei shop near my old apartment in Makiki-Tantalus. I would stop in at least once a week to buy a lei or at the very least a flower. Walking into the scent of that shop had a way of making me feel drunk, purely on the fragrance of flowers.
Honeysuckle absolute, pikake, plumeria absolute, Tahitian gardenia maceration/absolute, tuberose absolute, massoia bark, lilikoi accord, Monoi de Tahiti and a dribble of aged sweet patchouli

Gardenia, Honeysuckle, pikake, gardenia, tuberose! I love all of them! Let’s see if I have a better luck.

I think I smell Ylang Ylang too. This is nice but it’s similar to Narcosa from HoG and I like narcosa best. The patchouli is not very strong here. So, if you like white flowers don’t let the patchouli scare you!

Magnolia Street

Magnolia, pink lotus absolute, zdravetz, nagramotha, cannabis flower, coffee flower, peach blossom, sandalwood absolute, aged patchouli and a generous swirl of spice.

I get a hint of spice but it isn’t cinnamon or clove to my nose. This is nice and feminine. I get good amount of patchouli on the dry down

The golden lilies

Lily-of-the-Valley, tiare flower, apricot, tonka, davana, amber, sandalwood and fire tree.

Ohh Fire tree! This is a new note for me!

From the imp I don’t like this. It’s sour and sharp. Like I have said this reminds me sweet white wine. This has good staying power. So bad that I don’t enjoy it.

The Sacred Queen

Beautiful, ruthless and fiery - The Sacred Queen, with over 14 essential oils, is a deceptively sweet, complex and unmistakably regal blend of honey and smokey vetiver, amber and vintage patchouli, frankincense, neroli and bitter almond with smoldering spices, sacred incense and a heady blend of florals.  

Earthy patchouli and vetiver. Now this one I like! It’s smoky and interesting and has good staying power. I have similar blend but still this one is very nice if you love resinous scents. I don’t detect neroli or almond in this but I do get a white floral note as the vetiver burns of.

Breathless

Red and white rose, vintage patchouli, myrrh, cacao absolute, bourbon vanilla, and sandalwood. 

This one is my favourite from all the Twyla scents that I have tried. I have a similar scent from Arcana though.  The rose isn’t overpowering and it compliments the other notes and helps the blend not to become to earthy. Cacao and patchouli are the strongest notes here.

This has very good staying power too! I highly recommend it for patchouli lovers!

All in all, I loved the concept and the inspiration behind these perfumes but unfortunately none of these is full bottle worthy for me.  I even tried to put some of the in my scent locket but still I couldn’t smell them through the day.

Perfume is very subjective and has a lot to do with the body chemistry. For example I never liked any of The morbid the merrier scent but I know a lot of people who loved them!

Twyla is very friendly and I highly recommend checking her site out and her FB page where she has regular sales. You can always try before buying her scents and I always appreciate this in a perfume company!

Have a nice Week-end everyone!

Moonflower's Bliss-Arcana

COMPANY: Arcana

AVAILABILITY: Available in Soapbox co.

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: Happiness under a starless sky: moon vine, heartleaf milkweed, Calla lily, white tuberose, gardenia, and Madagascar bridal veil with creamy butter CO2 extract, pearl musk, white pepper, and a trace of incense. 

BEFORE I SMELL: I have this perfume a couple of years now. When I read the description I immediately bought a full size bottle of it! I was intrigued by all these flowers in combination with the butter extract. I was so curious!

In addition, I have never occurred a milkweed note before in other perfumes so, be ware, Even if it’s there I don’t think I can recognize it!

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE: It’s so hard for me to pick out notes from the bottle in this particular scent. I get a sharp white floral note and the scent of the  butter when you are melting it.

WET ON SKIN: This is very perfumy on me. It’s a clean floral for sure. The lilies here remind me lily of the valley. The gardenia and the tuberose are not so much apparent to my skin and I was looking forward on these notes…

DRY DOWN: This goes very musky on me. I really like it for spring and it’s my go to perfume for when I have to go somewhere that I have to meet people which I don’t usually see. Like when a baby from our family is being babtised. It seems to be a crowd pleaser and I have got so many compliments on it!

I don’t really get the incense nor the white pepper.

Staying power on this is pretty good! It stays 5 to 6 hours on my skin.

La Belle au Bois Dormant-BPAL

PERFUME: La Belle au Bois Dormant

COMPANY: Bpal

AVAILABILITY: Permanent \ Ars Amatoria

OFFICIAL DESCRIPTION: The Sleeping Beauty. A gentle, lovely scent, slightly soporific, but beautiful in its quiet repose. Plumeria and white pear, Damascus rose, tuberose, magnolia and evening dew.

BEFORE I SMELL: You know I love my white florals! The tuberose and magnolia sound so promising! What is more, I love fairytales. Maidens and castles and dragons… Not that I read them but I like them as an inspiration.

FROM THE DECANT/BOTTLE:  Magnolia and sweet aromatic pear.  In my opinion, the evening dew must be a moss note but I am not sure.

WET ON SKIN: Plumeria, Pear and moss. The moss\evening dew\ green note give to this perfume an old world vibe.

DRY DOWN: Powdery roses and fruity magnolia.

In general: A Clean floral with an aquatic aspect.

FINAL THOUGHTS: This definitely smells how I could imagined the sleeping beauty must smelt. The moss from the walls of her castle and the flowers that cover her bed all covered in the evening dew…